White Paper on the Health Care Profession in Catalonia

Prepared by the Steering Committee, chaired by Professor Albert Oriol i Bosch
Barcelona, May 2003

At the writing of this document, health care services are at the crossroads all around the globe. Health care professionals feel that their professional ethics are damaged by economic principles that force them to make decisions far beyond their professional capacities. Citizens expect the health care system to deal with any illness, to resolve most of the problems with no limitations of any kind, whether of knowledge or resources. The health professional-patient relationship is weakened by the citizens' loss of confidence in health care staff. Citizens want to be better informed, demand more accountability, more communication, and guarantees of quality. This means that there is a lack of satisfaction in both: the society and the health care professions.

In midst of fierce discussions as to how to improve the situation, the White Paper on Health Professions in Catalonia (WPHPC), prepared by the Steering Committee established by the Minister of Health and Social Security has been published. The Committee, chaired by Dr Alberto Oriol i Bosch, included the representation of citizens, of health care professionals and their organizations and associations as active participants of this participatory process.

The main objective of this document is the formulation of a series of medium and long-term proposals. It is characterized by the flexibility that permits an ongoing adaptation to changing organizational needs and technological advances of the system and by the intersectoral approach that leads to more effective and integrated health care personnel development plans. The White Paper is not the end of the discussion; on the contrary, it is the beginning of a process aimed at a new social and professional consensus in the field of human resources. It is a strategic instrument that shall guide decision-making in the future development of the health care professions by ensuring the cohesion of social needs and professional competence in the frame of harmonious development of the entire health care system.

Although the document is related to the situation in Catalonia, the final section details issues of key importance to the education and training of health care professionals in any part of the world. They are: values of professionalism; reorientation of the educational process and its character; continuing professional development; certification and recertification of professional competence, multidisciplinary teamwork, and the definition of a new social contract between the citizens and the professionals.

The document is available from Generalitat de Catalunya, Department of Health and Social Security, Institute of Health Studies, C/Balmes 132-136, 08008 Barcelona, Spain.